Tequila, Uniforms, and Kisses
by saragillie
Summary: What happens when you mix a hard case with tequila shots? Read and find out. Minor spoilers for Con Man in the Meth Lab


**Author's Note: Hope you enjoy this oneshot. Thanks as always to my faithful editor, redrider6612. She fixes my grammar, tightens my writing and weeds out the stories that aren't ready for posting yet. To those who are interested (if there are any of you left), I have finished writing the sequel to Wounded and Scarred. Voyeur is now in the editing phase and I hope to start posting it soon. **

The Friday after Seeley Booth's birthday party, Angela Montenegro had convinced them to go out to a club. They had just solved a difficult case that had most of them working late nights. Temperance Brennan didn't wanted to go, but she was so exhausted from the case that she hadn't been able to turn her friend down. Which explained why she was seated next to Booth, looking at the dance floor, and trying to figure out where her friend was.

She sipped her glass of wine and glanced at her partner. Even though he'd worked as many hours as she had and had to be completely exhausted, he didn't look it. He looked as if he could take on the world.

As she looked at him a second time, she decided it wasn't a result of his being an alpha male, it was just who he was. Her thoughts swam back to his birthday party and his confrontation with his brother. Booth was definitely the better man, both in terms of looks and character. Jared had looked good in his uniform, but she'd bet Booth looked even better.

"Bones? I don't have broccoli stuck between my teeth or something do I?"

"Huh?" It took her tired brain a minute to process his question. "Oh, no. No broccoli, no stains on your shirt."

She looked at her glass. 'I haven't had enough of these to be inebriated,' she thought irritably. 'What's wrong with me tonight?'

She looked around the club again, and this time she spotted Angela. She and Roxie were sitting at a raised table, heads together laughing, drinking shots of something.

"Whatever they're doing looks like fun," Brennan commented.

Booth looked closer. "Looks like tequila shots."

She looked blank. "It involves shots of tequila, salt and lime wedges. You've never done it?"

She shook her head.

He went to the bar and returned with a bottle of tequila, two shot glasses, a saltshaker and a plate of lime wedges. At her questioning look, he said, "It's easier to show you."

While Brennan watched intently, he poured tequila into the two glasses, grabbed a lime wedge in his left hand and licked the fleshy area between his thumb and forefinger. He sprinkled salt where he'd just licked. Then he licked the same place again, slammed back the shot and bit the lime wedge.

"And that's how you do tequila shots. You ready to try it?"

"It doesn't look very sanitary. Do you know how many germs are on your hands?"

Booth rolled his eyes. "No, and I don't really want to know. You scrubbed your hands thoroughly before we left the lab, so I'm sure there's nothing dangerous on them."

When that didn't convince her, he grabbed her hand. "Come on, you have to try it at least once."

He pulled her hand toward his mouth. Her eyes widened as she realized his intent. She snatched her hand back. "I can do it myself."

Brennan repeated his earlier actions, making a face when she licked the salt. She slammed the shot back, but looked dubiously at the lime for a moment before she bit it. Her lips puckered.

He smiled. "So, how does it feel to participate in a normal drinking experience?"

"My mouth tastes sour."

"That's why you do another one." He smirked at her as he reached for the bottle.

"That won't fix the problem."

"Not if you only have one, it doesn't. Let's do the next shot together."

Booth watched and matched his timing to hers. This time she didn't hesitate.

"You're right. It was better the second time," she said in wonder.

She poured the tequila into the shot glasses. "Again."

"That's the spirit!"

A few shots later, Booth was more than pleasantly buzzed. He looked at his partner. The tension had gone out of her shoulders and the line had disappeared from her forehead. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked beautiful. He wasn't exactly sure what got into him. Maybe he was drunker than he thought, but the next words that slipped out of his mouth were, "You know, there's another way to do this."

His words piqued her curiosity. "There is?"

"Uh huh."

"Show me."

He poured the shots. "You do the salt and the lime."

She grabbed the lime, licked her hand, and added the salt. He kept his eyes glued to hers as he slowly moved toward her hand. He watched for any signs that she was uncomfortable.

When he locked his gaze on her, she couldn't help but suck in a little breath. His dark brown eyes were warm and shining with mischief. He looked so appealing. Her heart rate speed up a bit. Then his tongue was sliding across her skin and all thought was driven from her head. A moment later corners of his mouth brushed the tips of her fingers as he bit the lime. She contained her natural response of "Wow."

Brennan couldn't believe how quickly he'd managed to turn her on. He'd barely touched her… well, two could play this game.

"My turn."

He'd never heard her speak in that husky tone. Again, he locked his gaze on her, as he slowly licked his hand. Her eyes held an expression he'd never seen before.

He had taken an excruciatingly long time, so she returned the favor, extending the process as long as possible.

The moment her tongue touched his hand, his eyes slid shut, simply enjoying the sensation.

When she was done, he opened his eyes and found her face very close to his. The tension that had been between them for years seemed to have taken on a life of its own, and they were helpless to resist. Their heads drifted closer together.

His lips were almost touching hers, when a very tipsy Angela and Roxie stumbled into the table.

"We're goin' home. Shee you Monday," Angela slurred before heading toward the door.

Their moment gone, Booth suddenly realized what they'd been about to do. "Maybe we should head out too."

Brennan wasn't slurring her words, but she must be drunker than he realized. Maybe he was too, given that he'd almost kissed his partner. "This is fun. I don't want to stop."

"We should leave while we can still walk."

She pulled an evidence bag out of her purse and dumped the limes into it before grabbing the bottle.

"I'm ready to go."

Before long, the cab was in front of Booth's apartment. He climbed out and started giving the cabbie directions to her place, but she crawled out after him.

"We're not done drinking, mister!" She poked a finger into his chest.

He paid the cab driver and headed toward his apartment. She followed him like a puppy and didn't even object when he held the door for her.

A bit uncoordinated, she struggled out of her coat and then took the bottle and the limes to his living room.

"Booth, where are your shot glasses?"

He sighed. She really was serious about not being done drinking. He was surprised she wanted to get this drunk, but they had had a terrible week.

He placed the glasses on his coffee table and sat down beside her, trying desperately to keep the line at the forefront of his mind instead of how beautiful Brennan looked.

She poured the tequila. He sighed quietly, deciding that it was probably impossible to stop her now. Once she got an idea in her head, she was incredibly stubborn.

He sprinkled the salt on his hand and reached for a glass.

"Nuh uh," she said, grabbing the glass from him. "I like it better the second way!"

Then she leaned over, licked the salt off his hand, and finished her shot.

"Your turn."

As he drank his shot he tried to remember just how many they'd had. Six or seven at least? He knew he could hold his liquor, but he was surprised at how well she was holding hers.

He felt her eyes on him and turned to see her looking him up and down. He wondered what she was thinking.

"I betchyou look better in your uniform that your brother didin his."

Now he was certain she was drunk. She didn't have much of filter between her brain and her mouth, but she would never have said that sober. Plus her words were slurred. He grabbed the bottle and poured it down his sink.

He sat in the chair opposite her. "We've had enough for tonight."

"I tell you a secret," she proclaimed. "You're a better kisser."

Now she wasn't making any sense. "What?"

"You're a better kisssser than Jareeedd." She giggled.

She thought he was a better kisser than his brother? A warm feeling settled over him, and it had nothing to do with alcohol.

Wait, when had his brother kissed her?!? How was he supposed to respond to a statement that?

"Um… thanks, Bones."

She stood up and walked unsteadily toward him.

"Gonna do it again. It's been soooooo long."

And then she bent over and kissed him. Booth was so shocked that he didn't respond. A moment later, she tumbled into his lap, her lips still on his. Suddenly the stimulus was too much and he found himself responding to her kiss, his heart pounding in his chest.

She pulled away, sucking in deep breaths of oxygen. Her kiss was headier than the tequila they'd drunk. She was irresistible. When he'd gotten his breath back, he leaned up to kiss her.

Brennan pulled back, giggled, and then pouted. "Unimorph. No. Uniform."

She stood up and pulled him toward his bedroom. She began opening his drawers looking for his uniform. When she found it, she handed it to him and begged, "Please?"

He shooed her out of his bedroom and pulled on his uniform, fumbling with the buttons and wondering when he'd lost the will to resist her.

He opened the door to find her leaning against the opposite wall, eyes closed.

"Bones?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Yesh, defitly better."

"And you are definitely drunk," he said, guiding her back to the couch. When he moved to sit in the chair again, she grabbed him and pulled him down next to her.

"More kishes!" And she started to kiss him again. How could he resist the woman he loved?

He wasn't sure how long the kisses lasted, but his hormones were raging and he was holding on his control by a thread. The alcohol in his system wasn't helping.

Suddenly Brennan fell asleep and the pleasant torture was over. He told himself that he should get up and go to bed, but he didn't have the will or the energy. So he shifted until they were lying flat on the couch and then pulled a blanket over them.

Hours later, the bright light coming in the window stabbed through her eyelids and Brennan flinched. Then she noticed her position. She was lying on top of her partner… in his living room? And he was wearing his uniform?

Memory flooded back and with it, embarrassment. She had to get out of here. She slipped out from under the blanket and off her partner, hoping to escape unnoticed.

"Bones?"

She turned. He blinked a couple of times, trying to wake up. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him. Seeley Booth was the most attractive man she'd ever met on a normal day, but seeing him wake up, like this… she had never desired someone more than at this moment.

"I… I have to go," she stuttered.

He smiled a sleepy smile and it was more devastating than his charm smile. "Sure you don't want 'more kisses'?"

Her face flushed with embarrassment, while the rest of her wanted to give in. He was a better kisser than Jared. "Can we just forget last night, please?"

He leaned up on one elbow, more awake now. "How long are we going to try and forget what's between us?"

She shook her head. She didn't have any answers.

A moment's thought brought an analogy she would understand. "What happens in a volcano when pressure continues to build and there's no vent?"

"It erupts."

He sat up. "And if there's a vent?"

"Then the pressure bleeds off. Sometimes it's enough to prevent an eruption, but often it only postpones the inevitable."

"Temperance, we are a volcano. We can wait until what's between us explodes, or we can do something about it before we reach that point."

She sat down next to him. "We might erupt anyway."

"Yeah, but scientists monitor volcanoes they know are active, and at least they have some warning that it's going to happen."

She thought about telling him that scientists often knew when volcanoes without vents were beginning to be active enough to be of concern, but he'd brought up what had been an almost taboo subject and she didn't want to ignore it.

"So, what do you suggest we do?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, but at least we should talk about it."

"I've never had a relationship with anyone like I have with you. We work together, we're best friends, and then there's the sexual tension between us."

He looked at her, surprised that she'd chosen to be so direct about this issue, which they normally danced around.

"Hey, just because I chose not to acknowledge it, doesn't mean I was oblivious. Besides, nobody could misunderstand all of Angela's not-so-subtle hints."

His laugh rumbled deep in his chest. She gave him a long assessing look. He looked so good in his rumpled uniform. In that moment, she wondered exactly why they'd held off for so long. Then the reasons came rushing back, chief among them being that work was the most important thing in her life. But he'd spent the past several years showing her there was more to life than work. Before she had felt fulfilled, but oddly empty. Now, her world had more color. Things were less black-and-white, but still her life felt full.

Brennan looked at him in wonder. How could one man do all of that? "All I know is that I want you in my life."

Booth smiled and reached for her hand. "I want that, too."

"Either way, we keep that."

Her comment was cryptic, but he understood she was contrasting a relationship with remaining only partners.

"Either way, no dating somebody else, either of us. We may not be ready to act on our feelings yet, but it's not fair to either of us or the people we'd date."

She leaned over and kissed him softly. "How did you know?"

"We're too good as partners right now and I know how important your work is to you. It's is important to me, too. One day something will change and we'll reevaluate. But in the meantime, it's you and me someday and nobody until then?"

She thought hard for a moment before agreeing. "You and me, someday… maybe sooner than you think."


End file.
